SD68 is celebrating its highest graduation rate ever with 88.7 per cent of all resident students crossing the stage this past June. (Dreamstime)

By Alex Rawnsley

STRAIGHT A'S

Nanaimo-Ladysmith sets new record for high school graduation rates

Nov 25, 2021 | 12:03 PM

NANAIMO — Secondary school students in Nanaimo and Ladysmith have done what no-other class has done before.

Of the 1,075 resident students enrolled in grade 12 studies for the 2021/21 school year, 88.7 per cent earned their Dogwood Diploma.

It’s the highest ever secondary school resident grad rate in the District’s history.

“I wonder about the quarter system, what affect that had on student success,” Scott Saywell, SD68 superintendent, said of contributing factors to the new high mark. “Outreach programs that we instigated last year in a big way because of the pandemic, I wonder how they contributed to student success.”

The overall graduation rate among all students was only 78.8 per cent, however the number is inclusive of international students who attend class through the year but do not aim to, or graduate in the district.

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Female students saw a slightly higher graduation rate at 90.9 per cent than their male counterparts at 86.6 per cent.

A spokesperson for the District said students who don’t identify as male or female are included in the data according to their sex assigned at birth.

The limitation in data entry and subsequent reporting is at the provincial level, something SD68 is campaigning to change moving forward.

The big win, according to trustees, was a continued uptick in Indigenous student graduation rates.

Just over half of First Nations students graduated in 2016/17, however the figure rose to 80.3 per cent, up substantially from 67.8 last year.

“In 2016/17, there was a 25 per cent gap between Indigenous grad rates and our resident grad rates,” Charlene McKay said. “Our goal has been for so long to reach parity and while we’re not there yet, it’s now almost eight and a half per cent and that is not insignificant.”

McKay added the big step towards graduation parity was a time to pause and reflect.

“If you listen to the histories from some of our Aunties and Uncles about what school was like in Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public Schools in the 1970’s, it didn’t look like this. To think about what it looks like in 2021 and to recognize that we’ve heard, listened and focused to make these big jumps is significant.”

English Language Learning students saw an 82.5 per cent graduation rate, up from 61.4 in 2016/17.

Students with diverse needs such as those with learning challenges or individualized education programs (IEP’s) had a graduation rate of 64.2, up from just over 50 per cent five years ago.

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alex@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley